Celestial Pictures

Legendary martial artists including Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Ti Lung and Gordon Liu all got their start acting in Shaw Brothers productions. Shaw Brothers was the largest film production studio in the world, and led the way in popularizing the kung-fu genre on a global scale.

In 1957, Sir Run Run Shaw made the decision to go to Hong Kong to produce quality Chinese movies. There, in a quiet spot called Clearwater Bay, he bought 46 acres of land to build a studio. The land cost only 45 cents a square foot partly because of its proximity to the Chinese border and the communist threat that was looming at the time. Upon its completion, Shaw Studio because the largest privately owned studio in the world. Since then, the studio has gone on to produce nearly 1000 critically-acclaimed films, including The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, One-Armed Swordsman, and the groundbreaking Come Drink With Me, in addition to a large amount of content for television.

The Shaw Brothers have received numerous awards in recognition of both their films and philanthropy. In 2002, the Shaw Prize was established, which honors individuals in the fields of astronomy, life science, medicine and mathematics with a monetary award of one million dollars.